


Sun Shines Brighter

by Can_i_please_get_a_waffle



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Bisexuality, Black Bulls get a new member, Crushes, Cussing, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, Flirting, Harem, Kinda, Kissing, Mentions of Sex, Minor Original Character(s), One-Sided Attraction, Oops, Rinna beats up men for treating her wrong, Rinna says eat the rich, Rinna woo's all the rich people, Seduces Royals as a hobby, She is dense but not as dense as Asta, She is girly and will kill you with a nail file, Tags Are Fun, also my dimb bitch gene, also my dyslexia, and no one can stop me, and she is wonderful, because I said so, dumb, except maybe my depression, i am the god of this fan fiction, so good luck ig, this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2019-12-07 05:56:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18230834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Can_i_please_get_a_waffle/pseuds/Can_i_please_get_a_waffle
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Rinna Havensforth always wanted to be a magic knight.  She finally joins a Magic Knight squad only to be faced with discrimination for her status as a peasant.  Follow along as Rinna breaks the bones and steals the hearts of the people with look down at her.





	1. Time to Go! Castle Town is Not Friendy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rinna talks about her family and her town forever until she finally gets her ass in gear.  
> She then buys lipstick and gets bullied.

To say I am excited is an understatement. Six months ago, all the sixteen-year-olds in the Clover Kingdom received their grimoires and most have spent that time training for the Magic Knight Exams, myself included! In a week, every hopeful mage in the kingdom will meet at the capital to try to impress the Nine Magic Knight Captains. Today was the day I was leaving for the exams. It would take me five days to reach the Castle town, so that would leave me two days to explore the town itself. The thought of that huge town with thousands of people packed into it made me excited and nervous at the same time. My grandfather knocked on my bedroom door, startling me out of my thoughts. “Rinna, are you ready to go? Its almost noon, you need to leave soon.” 

“I’ll be right out Grandpa, I'm just double checking my backpack.” I stole one last glance at the mirror, making sure that my outfit was fit for travel. Faded leather pants tucked into my new leather boots, a birthday present from my mother, and a flowy tan shirt with a brown bow at the front. My brown hair was braided across my head and tucked into a twist at the back of my head, while my bangs sat neatly across my forehead. I had the knife my grandmother gave me for my birthday strapped to my right thigh and my grimoire tucked into a holster on my hip. I nodded my head at my reflection, deeming myself fit for travel. I grabbed my new leather backpack, a present from my Grandfather, and headed out the door, ready to say my final goodbyes to my family.

“Oooooh! Look at my little baby! You look so grown up with your Grimoire! I remember when you were just a little baby! You used to try to eat my grim-” My grandmother cut my mother off.

“Now Bonnie, let's not embarrass Rinna on her big day! Look at the poor thing, she’s a blushing mess! She gets that from your side of the family, Reggie. I’d never be caught blushing at every little thing like Rinna, no siree.” My grandmother, a tall, willowy woman with beautiful wavy brown hair, came over and started fussing with my hair. I smiled at her, even though she tried to hide it, I knew she was very sad that I had decided to leave our little farming village. I turned and gave a toothy smile at my mom, who now had tears shining in her cherry-red eyes.

“I’m all packed, mom, the only thing left is to say goodbye.” Tears started to well up in my eyes as I looked at the wonderful people that raised me. My grandfather, a stocky man with a full head of silver hair, was staring at me, his bottom lip trembling as he tried not to cry. He always looked like a mean old man, but I knew he was really a huge softy. I couldn't see it now, but I had inherited his million yule smile. My mother would always say that I was the perfect blend of the three of them. I had my Grandmothers determination and bravery, not to mention her shiny hair and tan complexion. From my Grandfather, I got his smile and freckles, but I also inherited his wanderlust and loyalty. My red eyes came from my mom, as did my tendency to blush at everything and my skills on a broom.

“Ya don’t have to go, you know. If ya want adventure, you could always join your grandma and me in the dungeons, We may be getting old, but we can still show you a thing or two.” My grandpa’s gruff voice broke the silence that had fallen over the living room. All three of them looked at me with hope in their eyes. It brakes my heart to have to leave them, but I know I’ll never be happy spending my entire life in Soraina, no matter how much I loved our little town.

“I know you want me to stay, but I have to do this. I’ve wanted to be a Magic Knight since I was a little girl. I won’t be gone forever, I’ll come to visit every chance I get. I need to get strong so I can protect our town! And then when I’m an old lady like you, grandma, I’ll come back for good and train other kids to be strong. I need to see the world, not just our orchards and the dungeons. I promise to write once I join a squad! Goodbye, I love you all! I’ll make you proud, I promise.” I ran out the door, grabbing my old broom from the porch, and running down the packed dirt roads of the residential area of Soraina. I ran down the roads I grew up on, passing the cherry orchard and the blueberry fields. I ran through the packed market place, the townsfolk clearing a way for me. 

“There goes that Havensforth girl, I hear she’s going to the Magic Knight exams.”

“Goodluck, Rinna! I believe in you!”

“Make us proud, Havensforth!”

“She’s had her head in the clouds for too long.”

“You go, girl!”

“Show those Nobles what a farm girl can do!”

“Does she really think she’ll get into a Magic Night squad?”

“If anyone can do it, it’s her.”

The crowd around me cheered, except for the few local skeptics. WIth the marketplace behind me, I headed towards the apple and pear orchards that bordered our town. Soraina was called the Forest of Fruit for a reason, what with our sporadic orchards throughout the town. Finally reaching the final tree line, I took flight on my old broomstick, standing upright so I could get one last look at my home town. I willed my broomstick forward, heading to Castle Town, leaving Soraina behind me.

***

The five days of constant traveling were grueling, but nothing I couldn’t handle. But I’m not going to lie to myself, I'm really happy that I don’t have to sleep out of the wilderness anymore. The inn I rented a room in was nice enough for the price I paid for it, I at least had a bed instead of the cold ground. I took a quick soak in the Inn’s communal bath and grabbed a sandwich at the deli across the street before going out to explore the Castle Town.

The buildings here are much closer together than they are in Soraina. They formed all sorts of dark alleyways that had some shadier looking business going down. 'I think I'll save the black market for after I become a Magic Knight. Grandma would love it, though.' I giggled to myself, picturing my graceful grandmother staring down some poor merchant until they gave her the price she wanted. Maybe one day I’ll master her devil glare.

Leaving the dark alleyways behind me, I headed towards the common marketplace. After passing what looks like a potion supply store, I walked into a giant courtyard in the center of town. Here, there were hundreds of little booths selling odd bits and ends. I wandered aimlessly for a while before I decided to go check out a booth selling ‘Magical Makeup for Marvilus Maidens’. While its name was ridiculous, the booth was selling some pretty cute products. A reddish- brown brick lipstick caught my eye as I was browsing. Now I didn’t come here to buy makeup, but who was I to deny fate? Besides, such a beautiful color would be sure to make me stand out, right? At least, that's what I told myself as I bought the lipstick

Feeling more than a little ridiculous about my choice in purchases, I headed towards a booth selling magic items. I mean seriously, who comes all the way to a city packed with magical items, only to buy lipstick? Sadly, no cool magic items caught my interest, so all I had to show for that day was a pretty lipstick. I turned around ready to drag my half-dead body back to my inn when a group of people around my age rounded the corner talking rather loudly.

“I just don’t understand why all these peasants feel the need to flood our streets every year. I mean, I understand that this is their one chance to drag themselves out of the boonies, but do they honestly expect to make it? None of them have the mana to fight the likes of us, so why bother trying. I always feel so embarrassed for them whenever I see them leaving town after the Entrance exam.” A boy, not a man, not with that outfit, about twenty or so, was talking loudly to the gaggle of young adults. Behind him, a young girl, closer to my age, piped up.

“Yeah Greggory, that walk of shame all the peasants do is almost hard to watch, but its almost funny,” her kinda pretty in a ‘my parents are cousins‘ sort of way face twisted into something evil, “All the crying makes me laugh. That's what they get for trying to rise above their place. They should stay right where they are, below us.” She flicked her over-curled hair over her boney shoulder. She should eat more, that can’t be healthy. The boy, Greggory, twirled his weird little mustache and let out an obnoxious laugh, agreeing with the girl. The group continued toward me, and for a minute I wondered if I should hide. 

‘No,’ I thought to myself, ‘let them see me, that way they’ll recognize me when I burn their face off in the exam.’ The leader of the pack met my gaze. I inclined my head and narrowed my eyes, trying to convey that I heard his little rant and was daring him to say something. Fear flashed over his eyes, and I wondered briefly if I had correctly used my grandmother's devil stare, but I didn’t get the chance to finish the thought before the girl with the evil face opened her trap again.

“Oh look, there’s one of the slum-rats now. What do you think It’s thinking? What am I saying? It’s probably too dumb to think! HaHaHa!” To their credit, a couple of the people in the crowd behind her didn’t look like they agreed with their friend calling me an ‘It’, but they didn’t make a move to shut her up. “Look at the poor Thing,” Thing was not better than ‘It’, “I bet Its frozen in fear from all of our Mana! I bet It won’t last ten minutes at the Exam tomorrow. The captains will probably throw her out right away!” She glanced around at her posse confused at their silence. What was she expecting, laughter? “What do you think Greggory? Maybe we should save the Captains the trouble and ‘excuse’ her from the exam ourselves.” She made a move for her grimoire, which I happily noted was smaller than mine.

Greggory grabbed her hand but didn’t take his fearful gaze off me. Huh, guess I can use grandma’s devil stare. Can’t wait to tell her, she’ll be so proud.

“Ariel, stop. Look at that girl, you wouldn’t want to dirty your hands with scum like that. She’s probably rabid anyways.” Hey, at least he acknowledged I was human. He led the group away from me but threw back looks to make sure I wasn’t following them. Maybe I should just to freak them out… Nah I’m going to go get food.

I walked further into Castle Town, slowly leaving the tourist area and getting more into the local area. I could hear people talk about me as I passed by, but unlike Soraina, it was mostly negative.

“Uhg who let that thing this far into Castle Town?”

“Someone get pest control”

“Look how shabby her clothes are, maybe she fished them out of a dump!”

“She’s got a nice ass, though.”

“Gaurd your purse, I bet she’s a thief.’

I don’t understand why they are so weary of me. I may be from the Forsaken Relm, but this is just the Common Relm. We’re not that different, especially considering how well off Soraina is with its exports of jellies, jams, dried fruit, and alcohol. The only thing different is that my clothes are meant for comfort and labor, while theirs are meant for fashion and social class. Alwell, I’m not here to change their opinion, I’m here for food.

I chose a pub and had a hefty dinner of garlic roasted chicken, stewed carrots and peas, and a baked potato. I also ordered a glass of apple juice but was sorely disappointed at the quality. It tasted like water that thought really hard about an apple. 

After dinner, I successfully dragged my body back to my inn without being harassed by some group of losers. I hope I see some of those people at the exams tomorrow so I have the opportunity to show em’ what this farm girl can do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it was so short.  
> Heres Rinna's first outfit. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=df0e0d1c15&attid=0.5&permmsgid=msg-f:1628948143424563940&th=169b2fb4b65a6ae4&view=att&disp=safe  
> This concludes my update of questionable quality. Congratulations for making it through that train wreck. go eat a cookie, you deserve it.


	2. Character chart. Meet Rinna!

Character: Rinna Havensforth  
Hometown: Soraina, a fruit farming village in the middle of the Forsaken Relm. It’s actually a minor magic hotspot, but it's so minor that almost no one notices  
Age: 16 ( I’m bumping almost everyone up one year from their canon age so that they will be easier for me to write. Fifteen-year-olds are gross.)  
Height: 165 cm (5 foot 5 inches)  
Hair: slightly wavey, light brown  
Eyes: Red, but not in a scary way…most of the time  
General looks: Considered very pretty, if not plain, at first glance, but the more you look the pretty she gets. She has a splash of freckles across her nose and cheekbones, and her eyes glitter like rubies in the sun. Her skin has a lovely light tan from living on a fruit farm.  
Magic: Solar light magic, AKA Sun and Moon Magic  
Grimoire: It's bound in leather with sun etched onto the front cover and a moon etched onto the back. If you open it like a normal book, it has Sun-based spells, but if you flip it and open it upside down, it shows Moon-based spells.  
Mana: She has a surprisingly high level of magic for a peasant/commoner, but nothing crazy. She believes in Nurture over Nature in mana levels.  
Family: She never met her father, but she has a loving mother and a wild set of grandparents. Her grandparents are common fruit farmers with a nasty habit stumbling into dungeons. They learned how to detect them and passed that skill onto their granddaughter, who utilized it by sneaking off into dungeons at night. Her family pretends they don’t know she does that, but they do.  
Random Facts: Rinna can be a bit clueless sometimes, but nowhere near Asta’s level. She is farsighted but doesn't have glasses. She has a couple scares on her arms and one on the left side of her face from the time she triggered a boobie-trap in a dungeon. She loves buying new outfits and likes to wear them out on missions.


	3. Magic Knight Exams!

I got to the magic exams at what I thought was a pretty early time but judging by the long, long, line in front of me, I might be a bit late. On either side of the line, there were people cheering on the young mages. It looks like they were mostly family and friends, but they seemed to be encouraging everyone. So far, this was way better than yesterday. I mean, no one has called me an ‘It’ of a ‘Thing’ yet! And that old lady just said she liked my boots! And that girl just complimented my hair! And the boy behind me said my Grimoire looks cool! The boy behind me struck up a conversation about what he thinks the exam will be, and the girl in front of me threw in her two cents, as she lives in castle town and hears about the exam every year.

“It varies every year, but they usually have a bunch of different tests to test our Mana control and levels. Two years ago my brother took the test and he had grab little flags off of earth Gollum while they fired spells at him! Isn’t that cool! He didn’t make it, but he said that I could have a real chance!” The girl had a wistful look in her eyes as she talked about the exam. 

‘I hope she makes it, she seems like she’d be a good knight.’ Sadly my thoughts and our conversation were cut off by that girl, Ariel, I think, from yesterday.

“HaAHhaHa! Look at all these peasants waiting in line! I don’t know why they waste their time like this. I doubt the captains will even look at them. Look at them, they look disgusting!” Who was she talking to? No one was walking with her? She kept on blabbering on, so I tuned her out and turned back towards the nice girl in front of me. She was staring at Ariel as she walked into the entrance of the Coliseum the exams were being held in.

“That's Ariel Aquana, She’s the daughter of some minor Noble family. She’s pretty strong, but her attitude is hard to deal with. We used to play together when we were little girls, but when she found out I was just a commoner she said she wanted nothing to do with me.” The girl's bright smile dimmed into a small frown. I didn't bother bringing up my interaction with her yesterday, it would only bum her out more. We were quiet for the rest of the wait.

The girl, Ailla from Castle Town, finally got entered into the exam and now it was my turn.

“I’m Rinna Havenforths from Soraina,” I said to the mage scanning the Grimoires. I handed him my grimoire and he flipped it over a couple of times, trying to figure out which side the front was on. “Just scan the sun side. I don’t think it’ll make a difference.” He nodded and scanned my Grimoire before handing it back to me.

“Rinna Havensforth from Soraina, Number 208. That's an interesting Grimoire you’ve got there, good luck on the exam.” I thanked the mage and made my way into the Colosseum. 

Inside, two hundred other young mages stood around, checking out their competition. There were people from all walks of life, Young men and women in fine clothing and finely combed hair, and some hardier looking men and women in plain, sturdy clothing. Up ahead, laughter broke out and I went to go see what was so funny. I shooed a bird that tried to land on my shoulder. What's with these things, it’s not normal for birds to swarm people like this. I’m just happy that they didn’t seem too interested in me, unlike this kid.

The source of the laughter was a small boy with grey hair, shouting and running away from the flock of birds intently following him.

“Stupid birds, why are they trying to kill me!” The guy ran back and forth trying, and failing, to shake the birds.

“Tch, what's he doing here? With all those Anti-magic birds following him, he clearly doesn't have a chance. What an idiot.” Someone to the left of me didn’t seem to like the poor guy, and the rest of the crowd seemed to agree. Well if no one's gonna help him get rid of those birds I will, after all, they don’t seem to like me that much.

“Shoo! Get out of here, ya dumb birds! Go eat a worm or something! Leave him alone.” I put a hand on the short guy's shoulder and shooed the pesky birds off of him. Most of them flew off, but a few still hovered above his head.

The kid turned towards me, “Thanks for that! I thought those birds were gonna kill me. I’m Asta, from Hage Village. It’s nice to mAHHHHHHHHH!” the kid, Asta started screaming as one brave bird dived directly at his face. He ran back a little but ran into some huge dude. “Heh, that bird really got me. Sorry about that”

“You got a death wish, boy?” The huge, scary man looked at Asta with a glare that could rival my grandma’s. Asta panicked for a minute before putting his hand on the man's shoulder and calling him old. Maybe he does have a death wish? Maybe I should help him… He looks like he needs it.

“I’m so sorry, sir! Asta here didn’t mean what he said, he’s just really nervous! Please don’t kill him!” I put my hand on the man’s wrist, trying to pull his hand off of Asta’s head. The man raised his arm up higher, holding Asta up by his head. I held onto his wrist in amazement. He could hold both of us up with one arm? This guy must be crazy strong!

“Finally, there you are. What are you doing out here anyway?” A young man with brown hair and purple eyes walked up toward us. ‘

Hey, he’s wearing a Magic Knight Robe!’ I thought while still hanging onto the man’s wrist, ‘ I wonder who he is”

The man squeezed Asta’s head harder. “Right now I’m getting ready to wring this kids neck. And teach this girl to stay out of my business.” I gulped. 

‘He’s going to kill me! I can’t die, my grandma would kill me!’ The crowd started talking around me, but I couldn’t hear them over Asta’s screaming and my own heartbeat. 

“Hey now, stop! That won’t do at all. A squad Captain can’t kill a couple of examinees.” The purple-eyed magic night called out to the… Captain!? If this is one of the captains that I’ve already blown my chances of getting onto his squad…. “Why’d you even come down here in the first place?” The magic night continued to question who I assumed was his Captain. They talked more before finally leaving, but I was still in shock over this brute being a Magic Knight Captain. 

The Captain put us back on the ground and started counting down, apparently to the end of Asta’s life, but when he hit zero, fireworks went off, signaling the beginning of the exam. Luckily the man left after that, leaving Asta and me fully intact.

“Whaaaaa that guy was strong! Thanks for trying to stop him from squishing me! As I was saying before, I’m Asta from Hage Village, and it’s nice to meet you!” Asta turned around and thanked me.

“Yeah, he was pretty scary. I’m Rinna from Soraina, and I didn’t really do much, I just hung onto his wrist like an idiot.” I could feel a blush creep across my face from all the people staring at us. ‘Uhg that was so embarrassing!’ A guy with weird spikey hair came up on my left.

“Bah-ha! Are you two all right? Confronting Captain Yami of the Black Bulls without warning like that? Can’t say I envy you two. Oh, I'm Sekke, by the way, Sekke Bronzazza. It’s nice to meet you. Bah-ha!” This guy gave off a weird vibe… Maybe it’s his weird laugh? Asta introduced himself, but before I could, trumpets started playing, announcing the arrival of the Magic Knight Captains. All the Anti-magic birds flew away as the captains sat down. Sekke started to explain who each of the captains was, but I ignored him. I knew enough to get by the exam. But hearing all of the captains be listed made me realize something, do I even know what squad I want to be in?

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve wanted to be a magic knight, but have I really never thought about which squad. I don’t think I want to be in a squad overrun with Nobility and Royalty, so that crosses the Silver Eagles and the Golden Dawn off my list. I’ve heard bad things about the Purple Orcas being involved in extortion in the Common and Forsaken Realms, so that squad is out, and I don’t like the way the Blue Rose knights treat men, so they’re a no. That leaves the Crimson Lion Kings, the Green Praying Mantises, the Coral Peacockes, the Aqua Deer, and the Black Bulls. I think I’d be okay with any of those six, but I’m not sure if some of those Captains would want me. I shivered, thinking of Captain Yami’s scary face.

Cheers broke out as the Captain of the Golden Dawn, William Vangeance, stepped forward to begin the exam. “Attention Examinees! Thank you for waiting. I will be administering this year's entrance exam. “ Captain Vangeance opened his Grimoire and cast a spell that caused giant tree branches to extend out from the now cloudy sky. The branches extended out toward each examinee and formed broomsticks for everyone. “In Just a few moments, we’ll begin the first in a series of tests. The Nine Magic Knight Captains will be serving as your judges, and when the exam is complete, we will choose the individuals we want on our squads. If chosen, you are in, if more than one squad chooses you, you will decide which you would like to join. However, if you are not selected by any squad, that means you have been deemed unqualified to join the Magic Knights.” 

I gripped my broom and nodded to myself, ‘I will get chooses! I’ve been training with grandma and grandpa in the dungeons for months!’

Captain Vangeance continued, “And Now for your first test. You must use the brooms you’ve been given to fly. A mage that is in control of His or Her magic power can do it on instinct alone. It is our most basic way to get from one place to another. If you cannot fly on a broom than you are not worth our time. Enough talk. Now, Begin!”

This guy isn't serious, right? Flying on a broom isn’t hard at all! Kids in Soraina use them to pick fruit off the tall fruit trees all the time! I mean, I’ve been flying since I was a kid! Without hesitation, I placed one foot on the broom and pushed off with my other, just like my grandpa taught me when I was seven. I steadily rose up, going above the other examinees that were struggling to float a couple of feet above the ground, all the way to the top of the Coliseum. A couple of people flew up with me, mostly Royalty or Nobility, but there was one other Peasant. He stood tall on his broom and flew around slowly. Huh, guess he is a natural. A boy below me slowly started to rise up, getting pretty close to where I was, before letting out a whelp as he lost control of his magic. His broom flew out from under him and the other mages gasped as he started to plummet to the ground.

My instincts took over as I dropped down flat against my broom, swan diving towards the ground. I dove underneath the falling boy and quickly jumped back up, catching the boy bridal style in my arms. I let out a huff and glanced down. I had just barely made it in time; we were only about two yards off the ground. I shifted the boy in my arms, my hold on him awkward since he was a bit bigger than me, and lowered us to the ground. “Are you okay? Falling from a broom like that can be scary, but don’t worry, a lot of people fall at first. Just try again and this time, take your time.” I smiled at the boy, who seemed to be in shock. He gave me a little nod, so I smiled at him one more time before willing myself back into the air. The mages still airborne broke out of their shock and started to talk about me.

“Wow, she’s super fast on a broom!”

“Did you see that dive? That was so cool!”

“Tch, what a show-off. I could have done that.”

“She didn’t even hesitate! She just grabbed him mid-air.”

“Who does that peasant think she is?”

“I wonder how long she’s been flying?”

“Hey Rinna, how are you so good at flying?”

That last one caught my attention, I turned towards the voice that knew my name and saw the girl from the line, Aiila, flying towards me. I smiled at her and started to explain.

“Well, the town I’m from, Soraina, is a fruit farming village. Since the trees are huge from the magic we use to grow them, we have to use brooms to harvest the fruit. I’ve been flying since I was seven, and when you fly with a bunch of little kids you learn how to catch them. I wasn't always this good, I actually fell a lot when I was younger, but as my grandma always said, ‘There is no skill that can’t be learned through hard work.’ But she also said that you don’t know how to do something unless you can teach it to another person, so here, let me help you.” I grab her hand and gently pull her so that she was standing on her broom. “It may look harder, but it’s much easier to control broom while standing. Put you dominate foot at the front, and keep your stance wide and knees slightly bent. Yeah just like that. Okay, now if you want to go forward lean forward. Same with right and left. Manna controls height and speed. It won't take much to make this thing go since it was made from magic. Let's do a couple of laps so you can get a hang of it.”

“Are you sure it’s okay for you to be helping me? Shouldn’t you be showing off like them?” She gestured to the people above us who felt outshined by my dive and were now doing flips and twists, trying to make them look good.

I shook my head, “No even If I don't become a Magic Knight today, at least I taught someone something useful.” I smiled and took her hand and started doing laps with her, slowly getting higher and going faster as she got the hang of flying.  
“That’s Enough!” Captain Vangeance called for all of us to land for the second test, the Magic Power test. I helped Ailla with her landing, so she would avoid falling on her face like some of the other mages. 

‘I wonder where Asta is? I didn’t see him in the air…’ A quick look around solved my question. Asta stood a couple of yards away from me looking irritated at his broom. I walked over and put my hand on his shoulder, “Asta? What happened, man? I didn’t see you up in the air?” Before he could answer, Captain Vangeance started explaining the second test. Apparently, we have to destroy these brick walls, wait when did those get there, with one spell. I immediately hear booms and crashes to my right. Geeze what's the rushwith these people? I flipped through my Grimoire looking for a good spell to use. ‘Should I use my strongest spell or should I save it for later? I’ll ask Asta what he thinks.’ I turned back around to ask him, but he seemed to be doing… something? He had his hands stretch out in front of him and was screaming like he was constipated. I guess I’ll just leave him to it. I’ll just go with Solar flair, it’s good for breaking down walls anyways.

I summoned my manna and opened my Grimoire, letting the pages flip themselves to the right page. A golden glow started shining from my hand as a cast my spell. 

“Solar Flair!” Just as the words left my lips, a golden four-point star launched itself with a streak of brilliant light into the brick wall in front of me. It pierces the wall with a satisfying ‘Boom’, causing the top half of the wall to explode into thousands of tiny little pieces. Feeling pretty good about my effort, I once again turned to check on Asta, only to find him in the same position, screaming even louder now. “Is he okay? Maybe that Yami guy squeezed his head too much…’ But once again, before I could ask him the third exam was announced. A magic power control test? I think I could handle that.

I could not handle that. Enchanted pieces of paper flew around the arena at random while every mage in the building fired at them. I wasn't doing too bad, but there were definitely a lot of people better than me. I just don’t get how they can even see those little targets all the way up there!’ I blasted the edge of another paper, completely missing the target. So far I have hit maybe three targets and twelve papers and completely missed five times. Alwell, nothing I can do about it now.

The fourth exam was the Creation Magic test, which I aced by recreating the coliseum we were in out of solid sunshine. The next exam was the Evolution Magic Test, which was right up my alley. They gave us all seeds and told us to make them sprout. Back in Soraina, we did this with saplings all the time. It's the reason we have so many different orchards. Focusing my mana into the little seed in my hand, it quickly sprouted up beautifully, growing to about two feet in my palm. The poor thing didn’t have roots so I knew it would die after I stopped giving it my mana. 

I tried to check on Asta after every test, but I was always cut off my a captain announcing the next test, or Asta just couldn’t hear me over his constant screaming. It didn’t look like he was doing too well, though. I hope he’ll do well on this test, a mage vs. mage battle. People around me were pairing off to duel and I was about to go ask Asta or Ailla to fight me when an evil voice spoke directly into my ear.

“I’ve been watching you.” Okay, that is beyond creepy, but I recognized the voice. It was that girl with the evil face from yesterday, Ariel. I completely forgot she was here. Oops, but I did say I wanted to burn her face off. Maybe she’ll ask me to fight her. That would be fun. “You’ve been doing surprisingly well for such a pathetic little insect. Too bad you’re just that, an insect. And I can’t wait to squash you under my boot. Don’t pair up with anyone, I’m going to be the one to crush your dreams.” She walked off after that? Does that mean we’re fighting? I guess it does, considering she’s glaring at anyone who comes near me. She doesn't have a bad glare, but it's nothing to tell grandma about.

The first pair went up to fight, and to my surprise, it was Asta and Sekke. I guess they became friends? Their fight didn’t last too long though. After Sekke cast his first spell, a bronze dome thingy, Asta summoned a big sword from his grimoire and smashed it to pieces, knocking Sekke unconscious. The crowd was in shock, but I still cheered and applauded him.

A couple of fights happened after that, mostly Nobility and Royalty showing off, the boy that was really good at flying went up with some noble that was apparently really strong. Their fight was also super short, only casting one spell each before Broom-Boy took the win.

“This is so boring, I wanna fight!’ I glanced at Ariel, who was standing all the way on the other side of the arena. ‘She’s probably scared she’ll catch rabies or something from me.’ She met my gaze and answered my silent question with a shake of her head. ‘Rude bitch, lemme fight. Who does she think she is? She asked me to fight so the least she could do woul-’ my inner rant was cut off by Ailla going onto the arena with the boy from the line. Their fight was pretty good, her lightning magic was a good match against his water magic. Hopefully, that win got the attention of a Captain. 

Twenty battles later, I was getting pretty antsy. Finally having enough of Ariel's waiting game, I walked into the center of the arena. “Come on Ariel, let’s get this show on the road already. You’ve waited long enough.” With a pretty loud huff, Ariel stomped into the arena with me.

“I’ve never met anyone so desperate to get beaten before. I was trying to do you a favor by going last, so you’d be more memorable, god knows that's the only way a bug like you would stand out. But if you want to step on my kindness like this, then fine, let’s fight.” She pulled out her grimoire and immediately cast a spell. “Silent Mist Shroud!” Mist flooded the arena, blocking out my view of everything. 

Was she kidding me?! She’s been talking crap about me for two days, challenges me to a duel and she’s a Mist Mage?! Does she know what happens to mist when the sun shines? I mean, sure she has more mana than I do, but still. The gap in mana levels won’t be enough for her to beat me. It’ll be a good fight but I’ll win in the end. “Solar wave!” I couldn’t see it through the mist but I felt the sun above us pulse as it let out a wave of bright light and heat. The mist immediately disappeared. Ariel looked shocked that I got rid of her mist before she could launch a sneak attack. I smirked at her, “What did you expect when you, a Mist Mage, challenged me, A Sun Mage?” This set her off as she then sent a dozen human-shaped mist creatures at me. I countered with my spell, “Solar Seeking Eyes” which was usually a spell I used to map out dungeons, but they’ll work for this as well. Twelve little shining eyeballs with wings flew alongside me as I dashed forward toward Ariel. Sunlight enveloped my fists as I swung at the Mist Mage, catching her right on the cheekbone. Heh, I did say I’d burn her face off. 

Ariel murmured something that sounded an awful lot like ‘bitch’, but before I could call her out on it, she cast a counter attack. “Misty Twister!” a powerful and damp, wind blew me back several yards, causing me to land on my feet at a funny angle. Pain shot up my left leg, but I ignored it. “You fight like an animal!” Ariel cried while holding her cheek. It was already forming a bruise, which looked really weird with the bright red sunburn I gave her. “If all you can do is act like a heathen then you have no place in the magic nights!” Her grimoire flipped to a new page as she cast another mist monster spell. This time it looked more like an octopus, which was kinda cool. The monster swung a tentacle at me from my right, which I dodged, but I sadly didn’t see the one coming from the left. Coldness enveloped me I tried enveloping myself in sunlight, but it didn’t work, she must have put most of her mana into this octopus. “You should just quit now, it’s not like you’ll be able to break out of my most powerful spell. Just like you’ll never escape from under us Nobles.” Trash talking to me alone in the city is one thing, but here, in front of the captains? I won’t stand for it.

I started to burn brighter, blinding everyone on the ground floor. The tentacle holding me evaporated, letting me escape before it could reform and grab me again. I dashed forward, still glowing violently, keeping the tentacle away from me. Once I got to the things huge head, I cast the spell I used to obliterate the wall in the power test. “Solar Flair” The four-point star shined just as bright as I did as it impaled the Mist Monster. In the few seconds I had before the explosion, I retreated to avoid any blowback. I also stopped my insane glow, as it takes up a good chunk of mana. The result of the explosion was beautiful. With all the moisture in the air, the light from my spell formed fragments of rainbows all over the arena.

“IS THIS MEMORABLE ENOUGH FOR YOU, BITCH?” I screamed at her from the other side of the Coliseum. That got a pretty big laugh from all the other mages.

“ENOUGH TALK! LET’S JUST END THIS.” Ariel shouted back at me. At the same time, we both cast another spell.

“MISTY TWISTER!” The twist was bigger this time and blew twice as hard.

“SUN CANON!” I used my most powerful spell. A great beam of light flowed from my hands.

When our spells met, there was a great boom and more rainbows. They seemed pretty equally matched, but I could feel her pouring more mana into hers to overpower me, and it was working. I could feel myself being pushed back so I dove underneath her twister, cutting my spell short so I could cast a sneak attack. In the split second of me stopping my spell and her noticing, I cast one final spell.

“SOLAR FLAIR!” The star flew true to its target, hitting her directly in the chest before exploding, adding more color to the arena. I caught my breath as the arena cleared of mist. Ariel laid there on the ground, bright pink with sunburn and unconscious. The arena was quiet for a minute before cheers for both Ariel and myself broke out everywhere. I could understand why, every fight before ours was super boring compared to our showdown.

“Ariel Aquana is unconscious, the winner is Rinna Havensforth!” The judge made my win official, and boy was I happy because that meant I could sit down. I used way more mana in that duel than I should have. I walked as gracefully as I could back under the ledge the other mages were and collapsed in a place the captains couldn’t see me. People kept congratulating me on my win, and I just kept smiling and nodding in thanks, but inside I wasn’t really processing any of it. My mind was just racing with random thoughts. ‘Will I make it into a squad? Will Asta? Will Ailla? Will Arial? Was my fight enough to impress them? Or will they be to distracted by all the rainbows to see my skills? I swear to god if I get overshadowed by a rainbo-’ my thoughts once again got cut off by someone.

“RIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAA!” Hey, I know that screaming, that's Asta’s screaming. “YOU’RE FIGHT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME YOU WERE ALL LIKE BAM AND SHE WENT LIKE WOOSH AND THEN YOU WERE GLOWING AND IT WAS SO BRIGHT AND YOU BLEW UP THE OCTOPUS AND CALLED HER A BITCH AND THEN YOU GUYS WENT HEAD TO HEAD BUT YOU SNUCK IN A SURPRISE ATTACK AND BLEW HER UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND IT WAS SO PRETTY SISTER LILLY WOULD'VE LOVED IT!” Asta pretty much summarized my entire duel in one breath. How did he do that? And who is Sister Lilly? When I asked him that, he started this big long conversation about where he was from and how he never had any magic, so he was going to become the wizard king so a nun would marry him? Eh, it made more sense when he said it.

After our conversation, all the mages were called back into the arena so they captains could choose the mages they want for their squads. 

“That concludes the exam. When your number is called, please step forward to learn your results.”

“If a Captain wants you in his or her squad, they’ll raise a hand. That means you’re in. If you do not wish to join a squad you may, of course, decline. If you are admitted into more than one squad it is up to you to choose which you will join.” The captain of the Blue Rose Knights explained.

“However, if no squad wants you, you will not be a magic knight.” The captain of the Crimson Lion Kings continued.

“In which case you must leave at once.” Finished the captain of the Silver Eagles. I have a feeling that they rehearsed that….

“Examinee number one, no hands”

“Examinee number thirty-two, no hands”

“Number forty, no hands”

“Number forty-five, no hands”

“Number sixty-seven, no hands”

“Number seventy-one, the Purple Orcas” ‘Hey he was the first one, good for him.’

“Number seventy-eight, the Crimson Lion Kings” 

“Number ninety-nine, the Coral Peacockes” Oh hey that was Ariel, good for her.

“Number one sixteen, no hands”

‘God why did I get here so late, it's going to take forever to get to my number.’ I decided to let my mind wander aimlessly until it got closer to my number. I wonder what Grandma and Grandpa are doing right now…

“Number one sixty-four, blah blah blah” ‘Wait a minute why is everybody gasping? Hey isn’t that Asta’s friend, Yuno? Did he get into a squad? I glanced up hoping to get an answer to my question and Holy Shit. Every Single Captain Raised Their Hand. What the actual fuck, I mean sure, he was good, but he wasn’t that good was he? Maybe I should have paid more attention to the other examinees… Eh, not that big a deal, not like he’s gonna join all nine squads.

“Number one sixty-four, The Golden Dawn” Yikes, poor kid. That place is crawling with Noble s and Royalty. 

“Number one sixty-five,” Oh cool its Asta’s turn, I wonder which squad will pick him, with that cool sword thingy and all, he’s bound to get in somewhere.

“No hands.” Wait, what? But he totally throttled that Sekke guy! Oh, wait a minute, that Yami guy is back and holy shit his mana is strong. It felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest with how strong this guys mana was. The ground started shaking as he walked towards Asta, who happened to be right by me. Is this what a captain's mana feels like?

I saw their lips moving but I couldn’t hear what they were saying over my heart pounding in my ears. They talked more before Yami’s mana receded and my heart slowed down.

“You know, kid, I like you. Come join our crew.”

“Wha?t” 

“Quit gaping like a fish. I’m saying I’ll let you into the Black Bulls.” Yami’s eyes suddenly grew dark, “By the way you don’t get to say no, got it?”

“Yes, sir!” Yay! Asta got into a squad, now to just wait for my turn.

Yami reached over and grabbed my wrist, dangling me in the air, “I’m taking this one, too. Any objections?” I get the feeling like my objections wouldn’t count. Up above with the other captains, I saw two other hands raised, The Purple Peacocks and the Blue Roses. Hmmm, I would have been okay with the Purple Peacockes, but that's where Ariel went, and I don’t think I want to deal with her on a daily basis, and the Blue Roses were already on my no list so that leaves……

“I would love to join the Black Bulls.” Yami scoffs at me.

“Like you had a choice, kid.” He then threw me over his shoulder and grabbed Asta by the head again, and started to head for the exit. Well, guess I’m a Black Bull now!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone goes off saying that Rinna is overpowered, remember, she worked her ass off to get where she is now. She doesn't have some natural born talent like Yuno. Yeah, I gave her a two-sided grimoire, but she hasn't even unlocked the moon side, yet.


	4. The Black Bulls!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rinna meets the black bulls and clashed with Noelle.

We arrived at the Black Bulls’ hideout really quickly, thanks to Finral’s, the purple-eyed magic knight, Spacial Magic. Finral seemed nice enough but seemed really scared of Yami, which was understandable, and Gordon, a hex magic mage, was a little strange, but friendly. If the rest of the Black Bulls are like this, then I don’t think I have anything to worry about!

The Hideout was huuuuuge. It looked kinda like a castle made out of building blocks. Random parts jutted out, and the top floors seemed to ignore gravity. ‘Must be magical.’ It was a little on the old side, with dirt on the windows and bricks crumbling, but it was still ‘snazzy’, as Captian Yami says.  
Asta ran forward and threw the doors open, shouting his introduction, as always. He immediately got hit by what looked like a fireball, going airborne before landing beside me, on his face. He got back up and spat the dirt out of his mouth, “No, I’m not done! AHHHHHHH” he charged back into the now blazing doorway.

‘I’m coming, too, Asta!” I dashed forward and jumped through the flames with him. Inside was mayhem. Two boys, one with black hair with a white streak down the middle and the other with messy blonde hair, were fighting in the middle of the room. It looks the guy with the skunk hair was the source of the flames, his the fireballs he was shooting from his hands were anything to go on. A girl in her underwear was just waking up on the couch, mumbling about drinking. At the table, what looks like a little girl was shoveling a whole bunch of deserts into her mouth, while a creepy guy with a bleeding nose talked to a floating mirror. There was also this huge person on the corner with smoke coming out of their mouth.

“What a bunch of weirdos! You’ll fit right in Asta!” I slapped my hand on my new friends back, pushing him forward so he could make his introduction again.

“I’m Asta from Hage Village! I’m a Black Bull now, too! SOMEDAY, I’M GONNA BECOME THE WIZARD KING!” Once again, his introduction was ignored. The two boys continued to fight, one of them accidentally tossing a fireball at Asta, causing him to fall back onto me.

“Oof, Asta get off of me! You weigh a ton!” I struggled to push the dazed boy off of me, to no avail. Poor guy might have brain damage. Yami’s familiar mana was beginning to pulse through the air again before he punched a wall, smashing it to smithereens.

“All right, I’ve had enough! QUIT BREAKING STUFF ALREADY!” Well, that sure got the squads attention. They all surged forward, asking the captain to fight them, or to drink with them, or to give them time off, or to let them beat up the newbie. That last one made me nervous for obvious reasons. “Glad to see you missed me. Now, I want you to meet our two new recruits.” He glanced back looking for us, only to find us trapped underneath the smoke-breathing guy.

“H-help me.” Asta was lucky enough to have his head free, all I could do was kick my legs in the air.

“Quit messing around.” Yani didn’t seem to think that this was funny as he dragged us out from under the mage. “Now, like I was saying, these shrimps are our other new members..”

“Did you pick someone else, Captain?” I tilted my head at the man.

“What do you mean, other?” Asta also asked. We were both ignored as Captain Yami told us to introduce ourselves.

“Yes, sir! MY NAME’S ASTA, FROM HAGE VILLAGE. IT’S REALLY NICE TO MEET EVERYONE.” Asta screamed his introduction for a third and final time.

Skunk-hair gave Asta a funny look, “You’re from Hage? That’s out in the middle of nowhere.” 

‘Oh great, was he another person who looked down on people from the Forsaken Realm? I chose this squad because I thought there wouldn’t be anyone like that here.’ 

Everyone was looking at me now, guess it’s my turn. “Hi, my name is Rinna Havensforth from Soraina Town. I hope we can all become good friends!” I flashed my brightest smile at them, hoping to win them over right away.

Captain Yami looked at Finral. “Finral, introduce everybody.”

“Sure thing, sir. Let’s see where to start. You know Gordan Agrippa, not always the easiest guy to talk to, but he’s good people. Next, we have Vanessa Enoteca,” He gestured to the woman in her undergarments, “She tends to pick fights when she’s drunk, but she’s good people.” Veronica came up and said something to Asta that made him blush like crazy, but I was too distracted watching this little kid pack food away. 

‘How can someone so small, eat so much?’ Vanessa pulled me out of my thoughts by grabbing my shoulders and running her hands up and down my sides.

“And you, from Soraina? Growing up in a place with so much good food definitely filled you out nicely. You should show that off more, now that you're a Magic Knight. A girl can always use a little sex appeal to get what she wants.” 

‘She might have a point..’ I looked down at my tan shirt and brown pants, ‘these are the clothes of a farmer, not a magic knight. Maybe it’s time for a wardrobe upgrade.’

Alright, let’s continue, shall we?” Finral continued, pulling my attention away from Vanessa, who was now vomiting, “Luck Voltia, a battle freak who is addicted to fighting, but he’s good people.”

“Nice meeting both of you! Do you guys like to fight?” I didn’t respond because I am way too tired to duke it out again. Luck challenged Asta to a fight but was cut off by the guy with the nose bleed showing us a picture of a little girl.

“Hey, See her? My sister Marie, she’s an angle. If you lay a finger on her, then you die.” Asta and I both let out little screams as the guy got up close and personal to whisper that last part.

“Gauche Adlei, loves his sister a tad too much, but he’s good people.” FInral pointed to the little girl stuffing a muffin in her mouth.

“This here is Charmy Pappitson, a big eater, but she’s good people. And this is Grey, I don’t really get him, but he’s good people.” Grey turned out to be the big guy who sat on Asta and I. “And this here is Magna Swing, a street thug, but he’s good people.” Magna was squatting in front of Asta, glowering and glaring at him. Was he ignoring me? “And I am Finral Roulacase, ladykiller and finally, we have the Black Bulls’ fearless leader, the great Captain Yami Sukehiro!” 

‘Wait he didn’t say he’s good people? Is he super mean? From what I’ve seen, the answer is probably yes....’

Asta bowed to Yami, “Really glad to be here, Sir.” I did the same, saying that it was an honor to join his squad. 

“There are other members, of course, but they’re all out on missions, or on leave, or I don’t know. Think you newbies can play nice?”

“I’ll play as nice as they do, Captain.” I nodded to Yami, while Asta claimed that everyone would get along great. Asta started to shout again, so out of self-preservation, I tuned him out. Oh, wait now captain Yami is talking again. I only caught the end of what he was saying, though. Something about a workout?

Manga jumped in front of Asta, ignoring me once again, “Did ya hear him? Yami wants to make sure that you get a good workout, and that’s just what I‘m gonna do.” Feeling miffed that I was being ignored, I decided to get his attention by tapping on the shoulder.

“Excuse me, Mr.Skunk-head? Why are you ignoring me? It’s very rude not to say hi to new people.” Magna glanced at me but didn’t respond, and continued to trash talk Asta. He grabbed Asta and pulled him outside. What was his problem?

“Don’t worry about him, the little virgin gets nervous around pretty girls.” Veronica grabbed my arm and used me as a crutch as she stumbled after the boys.

Outside, Magna continued to ignore me and haze Asta. He said that Asta had to complete every task he gives him to deserve his magic knight's robe. ‘I wonder what I’ll have to do to win mine. Probably the same thing Asta’s doing. 

“Should I be up there with Asta?” I turned and voiced my concern to Finral, who just shook his head at me.

“No, if Magna wanted you up there, he’d tell you. Besides, you don’t need to prove yourself. From what I saw at the exams, you’re pretty strong. And pretty cute too.” he ended his explanation with a wink, making me blush bright red.

“Hush, you flirt. Don’t make me blush or I’ll look like a tomato.” I buried my face in my hands, trying to hide my pink face.

“Well, I think you make a cute tomato.” He just doesn’t stop! I thwack him on the back and hide on the other side of the group, by Luck and Veronica. I can handle scary dungeons and mean Nobility all day long, but flirting! No, not my strong suit.

“You’re going to have to get used to that, you know. The flirting? Now that you’re a magic knight, boys will come running! Ha! I remember when I first joined.” Veronica trailed off, staring at Asta, who just broke a boulder with his head. Holy shit he broke a boulder with his head. 

After the boulder, Magna decided that Asta’s last test would be a duel against him.

‘This will go just like his duel at the exams. His anti-magic sword is just too crazy to handle!’ Since I already knew how this match would end I decided to let my mind wander again. Glancing around, trying to take in the little details of my new home, I noticed a figure standing on top of the hideout. ‘Is that a girl? What’s she doing all the way up there? If she is a member of the squad, shouldn’t she be down here?’ I turned and asked Vanessa, who was becoming my favorite, my questions. She explained to me that that girl was Noel Silva, a royal who captain Yami hadn’t introduced to the group yet.

‘A Royalty, huh? I bet she’ll be just like Ariel.” 

I tuned back into Asta’s duel right in time to see him deflect Magna’s fireball right back at him. I cheer for Asta as I did at the exam.

‘Asta totally rocks! Glad I’m on the same team as him!’

Magna’s personality did a total 180 as he started congratulating Asta, and admitting that he was also from the Forsaken Realm. He seems much friendlier now, but he still hasn’t said anything to me. I walk up to him and once again tap him on the shoulder, “Hey you’re from Rayaka? Soraina isn’t that far from there! I used to go there with the fruit merchants! It’s so nice to know another knight that’s from the Forsaken Realm!’ I flash him a bright smile and he finally introduces himself.

“It’s nice to meet you, Rinna, the name’s Magna Swing. Soraina, huh? I’ve never been, but I heard it’s great.” He rubs the back of his head and looks away. I just smiled brighter. This is progress!

“I think it’s beautiful in the springtime. You should come to visit someday! The Orchard Inn is a great place to have a vacation!” Manga didn’t get the chance to respond before we were swarmed by the other Black Bulls members. Luck declared that it was time for ‘baptism number two’ and for a minute I was worried he was trying to fight me, but luckily he was punching at Asta, not me. ‘Thank god. I don’t think I could handle another fight today.’

Caos insured for another minute, before Finral clapped his hands, saying that we have business to finish. Magna held out a robe to Asta, “Here you go, you earned this fair and square.” I felt a little bad that I didn't have to fight. Maybe they have something else planned for me.

“Hey! How come Rinna didn’t fight! I wanna baptize her!” Luck made a move to punch me but was blocked by Finral waving his hands around.

“No no no, Rinna doesn't need to fight! Trust me, her battle at the exams was more than enough! Besides, Yami said that we only need to give Asta a work out because we didn’t see much of his fighting style at the exams.” I guess that made sense, Asta's battle was over super quickly, so it was hard to get a good look at his skills. Finral held out a cloak to me, causing my breath to hitch. ‘Is this finally happening’ Tears welled in my eyes as I grasped my new cloak.

“Well, what are you two waiting for? Let’s see how it looks!” Vanessa twirled her wand and my cloak flew up into the air and then gently fell down onto my shoulders. I couldn’t stop smiling as I looked over at Asta, who had a serious look on his face

‘I guess he really wanted this. I’m glad to be on the same squad as him.’ 

“It’s official now, you’re both one of us. You’re both members of the Black Bulls. Don’t do anything that would bring shame to Yami, or to the Black Bulls.”

Asta bowed to the squad and I was quick to follow. I waited for Asta to stop shouting so I could get a word in. “I promise to make you all proud! Thank you for letting me into your team!” I looked over to Asta and pulled him into a hug. “We did it, Asta! We’re Magic Knights!” Asta let out another victory screech before Captain Yami told us to shut up before he headed back inside. Magna pulled Asta inside as well, saying that he was going to show him to his room. Charmy tugged on the bottom of my shirt.

“Let’s go, Newbie number three, I’ll give you a tour, and then we can go eat something yummy!” She grabbed my hand and then raced forward, not giving me a chance to object. We raced forward into my new home.

*****

The tour wasn’t very eventful, save for what Charmy called the ‘Rec Room’, which looked more like a torture chamber to me, but maybe that’s what people do for fun here. Who am I to judge? Charmy also showed me the kitchen, and holy shit it is disgusting. Charmy explained that her sheep cooks love to cook food, but almost never do the dishes. WIth the memory of that train-wreck of a kitchen to haunt my dreams, Charmy finally led me to my new room.   
We went up several staircases to where Charmy said all the girls' rooms were. This part of the castle was notably cleaner, but not by much. The short mage led me down the hall to the last room on the left. “This will be your room. Across from you is the other new recruit, Noelle. Go get settled in, and then we can go eat! La!” She pushed the door open to reveal my room. It was a decent size, and petty empty. There was a twin sized bed with a pillow and blanket folded on top of it. There was a wardrobe and a chest on the wall across from the door. My favorite feature was the big window in front of the bed. 

‘I’ll have to ask mom to ship my furniture here, this place needs a touch of home.’ I placed my bag on the bed. I didn’t pack much when I left Soraina, just an extra set of clothes, bathroom essentials, and all the money I’ve been saving for the trip. ‘I should have enough money left over to spruce up the room a little.’ I glance down at my farm clothes, the brown clashing with the black, ‘And maybe a new outfit, too.’ Not knowing what else to do, I turned to Charmy and told her I was ready for dinner. She jumped up with a happy,’LA!’ and raced down to the mess hall, leaving me to trail after her.

I turned the corner to get to the staircase leading down, only to bump into someone. I managed to stay on my feet, but the other person was knocked down flat onto the floor. I immediately glance down to make sure the other person was alright. The person I ran into was a girl my age with long silver hair pulled up into high pigtails and purple eyes that looked at me with disgust. ‘Oh boy, here we go again. This must be the Royal girl that joined.’ Deciding that at least one of us should be civil, I put on a bright smile and extended a hand to help her up.

“Sorry about that, all these corners can be tricky! You aren’t hurt, are you? I’m Rinna, by the way! I also just joined the Black Bulls. I hope we can be friends!” Her eyes widened and lost their look of disgust and for a moment I thought she could be different from other nobles and royals, that maybe we really could be friends, but I was sorely mistaken. Her eyes narrowed darkened with disgust. She slapped my hand away with a harsh slap and stood up herself. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned her head up, looking down at me despite my greater height.

“How dare you touch a member of the great House of Silva, you worthless insect. A Royal of my standing could never be friends with a peasant, from Soraina. The people from there must be just like their fruit, disgusting and rotten. Now apologize, or be prepared to learn your place.” Her hand started swirling with water, getting ready to blast me.

I like to consider myself a level headed person, but I am about to lose my shit. I could handle random strangers talking about me on the street, but here? In my new squad? In my new home? I won’t stand for it.

“Do your worst, Bitch.” My hands started glowing, daring her to try something. She scowled at me, a face I was not ever expecting to see from a Royal, before letting her spell fire at me. I prepared to evaporate the blow, but before I could, it swerved to the left and flew straight out the open window. I looked at her, shocked at how terrible her control is, “When I said do your worst, I didn’t mean to literally do your worst.” Her glare got harsher before she fired off another water ball, only for the same thing to happen. I stopped my glowing and just stared at her. She stared back at me with anger burning in her eyes, but I don’t think it was aimed at me. We held our little stare-off for another minute before she tried to stomp past me. I blocked her with my once again glowing arm. 

“We’re not done here, Noelle. Your control over your magic is that shitty, are you still thought you could have beaten me in a fight? How big do you think the gap between Nobles and Commoners is? Listen, we're on the same squad now, we’re teammates, we can’t fight like that. I’ll help you learn to control your magic, but you have to get off of your high horse. We are equals in this squad. Deal?” I extended out my friendship to her one last time, but she still pushed it away.

“Like you would ever be my equal. And we are not teammates, I would never stoop so low as to work with your kind. Now get out of my way.” Wow, she really has her head up her own ass, huh. I pushed past her, making sure to knock her with my shoulder. If she wasn’t going to be civil, I didn’t have to be, either.

“Sweet dreams, bitch.” I didn’t wait for her to respond, deciding that food was more important to me than some brat’s opinion. One thing's for sure, I am done letting people talk down to me. I’m a magic knight now, I have to be stronger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rinna didn't have to fight because I was too lazy to write a fight scene


	5. misadventures with Charmy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noelle is less of a bitch now, yay!
> 
> Charmy and Rinna go to Raque to fight a fish. Also, Rinna wears a bikini that I described for an entire paragraph.

Dinner was fun. I spent the whole time chatting with Luck about my experience with dungeons, and Vanessa suggested a good store to get a new outfit for a good price, and the food Charmy’s sheep cooks made was delicious. Safe to say that by the time I dragged my body up to the top floor, I was exhausted. The bed was comfortable enough as I drifted off to dream of my new life as a magic knight.

Waking up was good, too. I practically jumped out of bed and rushed through my morning routine. I ran downstairs, ready to eat whatever awesome breakfast Charmy magic-ed up. Breakfast did not disappoint, and I ended up spending most of my morning listening to Charmy tell me about some of her past missions. ‘I wonder when I’ll get my first mission/’ When I voiced my question to Charmy, she explained that I’d probably go along with a senior member’s missions for a while before I got my own. She smiled and nodded when I asked if I could tag along with her next mission. I was about to ask how many missions I had to go on until I got a solo mission when we felt a huge wave of mana wash over the base.

“Hey, I recognize this mana! It’s Noelle’s!” There was no mistaking it, this was the mana that I felt from Noelle when she tried to fight me. Charmy stood up from the table.

“Let's go see what’s wrong. And then we can have dessert! La!” I didn’t bother to ask why she would eat dessert after breakfast, I just followed her out of the mess hall and out the front entrance. It looks like we weren’t the only ones that felt the mana, as all the other Black Bulls were also outside, looking up at the swirling mass of water above us. The senior members around me started talking, trying to figure out a way to get Noelle out of her mess. I’d use my sun magic to evaporate the water, but that would boil her alive. Where’s Asta? He could just cancel out the whole thing.

Like a god answering my prayers, Asta flew through the air and directly into Yami’s arms. Yami Immediately through him towards Noelle’s magic mess. Asta sliced through the water like it was, well, water. He made it look so easy… Hey, wait, who’s gonna catch those two? I pushed Finral forward, “Use your magic, Finral! Catch them!” At the same time I said that Yami said that if he got wet, he was going to kill us all. I quickly cast Sun God’s Pulse, (A/N I renamed Sun Wave) causing a warm wave of light to dry most of the water in the area around us. Finral successfully caught Asta and Noelle. Asta looked okay, but Noelle looked worse for wear. Asta walked over and started yelling about how Noelle has some amazing magic power. I walked over and for the final time extended my hand to the Royal.

“Ya’know, if you put in some hard work, you might actually be a halfway decent magic knight. Then all we’d have to work on would be your personality!” I knew my words were a little rough, but she had done nothing to deserve my kindness. I was, however, kind enough to be the biggest person. “Let’s work hard together, okay? I won’t lie to you, my aim could use a little work as well.” I stare down at her with a small smile. I could feel a little blush creeping across my face from my confession. ‘And from the fact that she hasn’t taken my hand yet. And in front of the entire squad, too!’ Noelle stared at me for a second longer before finally, finally, taking my hand.

“You incec- Asta, Rinna.” Her voice was small. It didn’t sound right coming from her. I almost miss her snobby voice. Almost.

Magna came up to stand beside Asta, “Is that all? You were running away because you can’t control your magic power? You should have said something sooner, you royal failure. We’re the Black Bulls, we’re a whole squad of failures. So maybe you have a weakness or three. It doesn't matter to us, bug dummy.”

“Magna is right, Noelle. No one here is perfect, we all have our own struggles! Just because you cant cont- WAIT WHAT?” Part of what Manga said just fully sank in, “Did you try to run away? I may have just joined this squad, but I don’t wanna lose any members! That includes you! We may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but we are still teammates, so if you wanna leave, you’re gonna have to go through me!” Noelle had tears in her eyes, but she still didn’t say anything.

“Common, you two, let’s do our best together!” Asta extended out a hand to Noelle and me, which I immediately took. I looked towards Noelle and shot her one more smile. She finally looked up at us and then reached forward to grab Asta’s hand.

“I’m looking forward to working with you.”

******  
I began the next morning doing chores that apparently all the newbies had to do. Mine were pretty simple, wash the windows and clean the kitchen. At least, they were simple in theory. In all actuality, I’m pretty sure that the windows have never been cleaned at all, and that the kitchen was haunted by the ghosts of meals past. Though they were grueling and disgusting, I still finished them in time to join the squad for lunch. I sat between Asta and Noelle and immediately filled my plate with food. ‘There sure is a lot of meat here. I know all the protein is good for building muscles, but I still don’t wanna get scurvy. Maybe I should plant some fruit trees?’ I shivered at the thought of scurvy, Soraina’s version of the Boogeyman. I turned to Asta and asked what chores he did today. 

“Oh, I fed the Beasts, washed the floors, dusted the library, did the laundry, and woke up Captain Yami!” He barely took a break from eating to say that.

“Wow, you did a lot Asta, way more than I did. All I was told to do was clean the kitchen and to wash the windows. No wonder you’re so hungry!” I turned around to talk to Noelle. “And what did you get done so far, Noelle? Need any help to finish your chores?” Poor thing has probably never touched a broom before in her life. She must be so lost on how to clean.

“Oh, I appreciate your offer of help, but there is no need. I don’t do chores, I just add mine onto the ones Asta is doing. He seems to like doing them, anyway.” I dead stared at the Royal girl. Ever since our little chat yesterday, she’s made much more of an effort to be nice to me, but I can tell she’s been biting her tongue. Eh, it’s the thought that counts. I throw a small glance over my shoulder to see if Asta heard what Noelle had been doing, but it looks like he was too invested in a talk with Luck to hear us. Heh, poor kid.

I spent the rest of lunch chatting with Veronica, and Charmy, with the occasional comment from Noelle, about the best shops in Castle Town. Well, Veronica and I were talking about shops, Charmy was just telling me where all the best food was, which was also greatly appreciated. I was just about to shift the topic to where I might be able to start a garden when Captain Yami walked into the mess hall. All the senior members immediately stood and saluted the man, we newbies followed close behind, except for Noelle, who I had to yank up to stand.

“Charmy, I have a mission for you. There is a giant magical fish tormenting a bunch of rich brats over at Raque. You need to go kill it or something before it eats another Noble brat. Leave today.” Captain Yami sat down with a big thunk and started to pile meat onto his plate.

“Yes, Sir! That magic fish sounds so yummy! Maybe I’ll make sushi or fish stew, or fried fish, or a fish sandwi-” Charmy caught my gaze and I flashed her a big smile, hoping she’d remember her promise to me. She winked back at me and gave me a thumbs up before turning to told to Yami. “Captain! I know the newbies need some mission experience, so I was wondering if Rinna could join me this time! La!” The Captain shifted his lazy gaze to me. I sat there, like a spooked deer while waiting for his verdict. Finally, he took a drag from his cigarette and spoke.

“It’s a little soon for her to be going on missions, but I guess It would be fine. Besides, her sun magic should be strong on the beach. Just make sure she doesn’t die.” Yami went back to shoveling food onto his plate and I smiled at Charmy. Asta was congratulating me on getting assigned the first mission and vowing to catch up to me soon, while Noelle flipped her hair over her shoulder and gave me a little nod. I didn’t really process any of it, though. I was too excited over going on my first mission. ‘It’s really happening! My first mission as a real magic knight!’

Soon after that, I was in my room getting ready to leave. I was already dressed and I had my grimoire ready for travel, so all that was left was to write to my family. I’ll admit I wasn't brief with my rundown of the past few days. I told them everything from my first meeting with Ariel and my duel with her at the exams to meeting the Black Bulls and my faceoff with Noelle. I know when they get this, they might be a bit confused, but their questions will have to wait. I have a mission to go on!

Charmy and I left by broom two hours after Yami assigned us the mission. It was a two-day trip to Raque by broom, and when I asked Charmy why we didn't just ask Finral to open us up a portal, she explained that if we did that, we would have to deal with him flirting with a bunch of ladies, which would leave less time for food. I get the feeling that this mission was mainly about food for Charmy…

The trip there went by pretty quickly; Charmy was a decent flyer, but she did make us take a lot of ‘snack breaks’. It was also pretty uneventful, besides that group of wanted bandits that we took down on our second day. We made a pretty good team, I blinded this with Sun Gods Pulse and Charmy used a Cotton Restraining spell to capture them while they wore disoriented. It was a pretty clean takedown, neither Charmy or I got hurt in the process. The one downside was that we had to wait for people from the Magic Knight Headquarters to come to pick them up. It was super boring, having to wait for them, and they were kind of major jerks to us, just because we are Black Bulls. What assholes… They also didn’t like it when I called them that out loud, but that's what happens when you decide to be Major Assholes.

Raque was beautiful. I have never been to the beach before, but it was exactly as I pictured it. The sand was fine and pearly white and the water sparkled a beautiful blue. We were lucky enough to catch the sun setting over the water. Orange, pink, purple, and red dominated the sky, and I felt truly powerful; like I was in my element. Which I guess I literally was, and always am, but that didn’t make this moment any less special to me. 

‘Grandma and Grandpa would love it here. I’m going to take them here one day. And mom, too, even though she hates water.’ That was thankfully one thing I didn’t inherit from my mother, she hates water. I was told she almost drowned in a river when she was ten, which I could understand developing a hatred from, but I, on the other hand, loved water. I spent most of my time growing up, swimming in the river that ran right through Soraina. It was a good way to stay cool, and a good source of exercise after I started my training for the exam.

I swept my eyes over the water. Supposedly, there was a man-eating fish somewhere out there, but it almost seemed impossible with how calm the water is. ‘Wait, where is everybody?’ The beach we were standing on was completely deserted. Maybe everyone ran scared because of the fish? ‘Why would they be scared? I mean, sure the fish eats people, but aren’t all these nobles supposed to have great magic power? Why not just blast a spell at it and call it a day?’ I mulled over this for a few more minutes. ‘Eh, just because they have mana doesn’t mean they know how to use it. After all, I outmatched quite a few nobles in the exams.’

“Well, Charmy? Don’t we have a fish to catch?” The older mage gave me a thumbs down? What the hell is that supposed to mean? 

“The fish is only active during the day. We’ll start gathering information on it tomorrow, and then bate the water to try and trap it!” Her face twisted into something mischievous. That sent warning bells ringing in my head. 

‘What does she mean bait the water? With what? Are we going to get some fish or someth- Oh No.’ What Charmy meant by baiting the water just clicked in my head. She ment us. In the water. With the man-eating fish. What fun.

“La! Let’s go check in at the Magic Knight Inn and get some sleep! Catching this thing is going to be tough work. I’ll bet we work up a huge appetite. I hear there is a good restaurant around here that makes…” I tuned Charmy out as she started rambling on about food again. The Magic Knight Inn? I’ve heard of those. Apparently, they have them in some of the bigger cities and towns in the Common Realm so that prissy Nobles and Royalty will have somewhere decent to stay on missions. They’re open to all Knights, but I never really pictured myself using them, but if Charmy wants to, it's her choice. She is leading the mission, after all.

The Magic Knight Inn was… Overwhelming. I was expecting something huge and lavish and totally unnecessary, but this is overkill. The ‘Inn’ was closer to a castle than anything, and the pools seem ridiculous considering we are literally on the beach, but there were still four of them. The building, itself, was made of a smooth white stone with way too many windows to be structurally sound. Inside was even worse. There were no less than twelve overly plush couches in the foyer, and when we entered, we were immediately greeted by a throng butlers and maids offering to take our bags from us and to show us to our rooms. At Least they did until they saw our robes. Apparently, the Black Bulls are the equivalent to the plague, judging by how fast they jumped back from us. Jeeze, I knew the Squad’s reputation was bad, but this is ridiculous.

“Hey now, there’s no need to worry about us! I know our squad is known to be rowdy, but we’re two of the more tame members. I’m pretty level headed and my partner, here, just wants food. I promise we won’t blow the place to smithereens.” I flashed the Inn workers a soft, calming smile, hoping to get them to stop. It didn’t work. The Inn workers just shuffled further away from us, some claiming to have work to do, others just running for their lives. Kind of rude if you ask me. Very unprofessional.

Charmy and I were left alone in the foyer. I glanced at Charmy and shrugged. I walked over to the now abandoned front desk and grabbed a key from the desk. Room 52 was the first one available, must be pretty busy here. I wrote ‘Black Bulls’ on the room enterorary, because, hey, I’m not an animal, and motioned for Charmy to follow me. I guess all the rooms must be up on the second floor? I glanced up the tall grand staircase and cursed every noble and royal family in the Clover Kingdom. God damn, I hate stairs.

Finding our room was surprisingly easy, but sadly, there were a lot of snobby magic knights between us and our room. Word must've gotten around that we were her because I could see and feel the belittling glares as we past each and every door. These people had no common decency, blatantly staring and talking about us. Charmy didn’t seemed bothered by it, though, so I guess I’ll ignore it. I glared at on particularly nasty Golden Dawn member, Who does this glasses wearing asshole think he is? If he even thinks about talking to me, I’ll rip out his stupid white hair and melt his glasses. Jerkwad.

Our room was also overly large. It was one big room with two king-sized beds on each side and a balcony on the sea facing wall. Luckily, it had its own private bathroom, so I wouldn’t have to see any more assholes today. I collapsed onto the bed closest to the balcony, claiming it as mine.

“So, Charmy, what's the plan?” my voice was muffled from the overly plush pillow, but she must of understood me because she answered.

“Well, for tonight, I’m going to order us some food from the Inn’s kitchen and have them bring you a swimsuit for tomorrow, can’t go swimming in your dat clothes, can ya?” That caused me to lift my head and raise an eyebrow at her. What does she mean have them bring me a swimsuit? When I asked Charmy, she just laughed at me. “Don’t ya know, kid? The Magic Knight Inn is all inclusive! As long as you need it for a mission, you get it! No, be quiet so I can order food. La!” Charmy jumped off her bed and ran out the door we had never bothered to shut. I guess she’s going to go get food? And a swimsuit for me? This place is weird…

By the time Charmy got back, I was already out of the shower and in my pajamas, which consisted of a thin nightdress and a robe to cover myself up with. SInce Soraina is pretty warm all year long, you don’t really need warm pajamas, so most people sleep in loose and light clothing. The food Charmy brought back was mainly seafood, which I wasn’t a huge fan of, but ate anyway since I knew I’d need the energy later. After eating, I immediately snuggled up into my bed, the exhaustion from our two-day trip finally catching up to me. I was lulled to sleep by Charmy’s chewing noises and the sound of waves crashing.

***

For some reason I couldn’t comprehend, Charmy though that the best way to wake me up was to shove an apple into my mouth. Now don’t get me wrong, I’d never pass up a chance to eat fresh food, but the timing was a little inconvenient. When I finally stopped choling from the apple lodged in my mouth, Charmy through something red and gold at me. I grabbed it off my bed and took a look, and then immediately started blushing. ‘What the fuck What The Fuck WHAT THE FUCK.” Charmy just threw a bikini at me. A red and gold bikini. A small, so small, bikini.

“Charmy! What the fuck is this!”

“It’s your bathing suit, now go get dressed! We have a fish to catch!”

“Why did you pick a bikini? I can’t fight in this!”

“ I didn’t choose it. I just told the maid we needed sexy bathing suits to attract a fish!” I blinked at her. Why do we need to be sexy to attract the fish? I glanced back at my bathing suit. It was sexy, but it wouldn’t matter. I wouldn’t look good wearing it. I took a glance at Charmy’s swimsuit, which she already had on. Her’s wasn’t sexy, it was just a blue and white striped one-piece. That's totally unfair!

“Hey, why do you get a one-piece? And why does a fish care about being sexy?”

“Silly girl, my bathing suit is a different kind of sexy! I am an elegant and mature kind of sexy! Something that can only be achieved by an woman like me! You are young and wild and untamed! Something flashy is best to show off your shining personality! And Captain Yami said the fish mainly targets young ladies, so I thought the best course of action was this! La!.” Charmy struck a pose and winked at me. I still didn’t see how hers was sexy, but what ever makes her happy, I guess.

The bathing suit was just as bad as I thought it would be. The top had a gold chain that wrapped around my neck and then hung down between my breasts. Connected to that was the dark red fabric that looped around my shoulders for no apparent reason at all. The top itself is just two red triangles that were barely being held together by a gold ring in front The top might be slightly too small,.because boy, oh boy was this scandalous. My boobs were pressed together and straining against the top, just waiting to pop out while I was fighting a magic fish. At least the bottoms were okay. They are also dark red, but they rested on my waist instead of my hips, helping balance out the situation up top. I could do without the gold rings that held together the front and back, but they at least seemed more secure than the top. I step out of the bathroom and put my Black Bulls robe on, trying to cover up a bit. Charmy gave me an approving ‘La!’ before she ran out of the doorway. I sigh and strapped on my grimoire. I guess I’m going to go fight a fish?

****

As it turns out, the Inn workers aren’t the only ones that have problems talking to members of the Black Bulls. No matter how many smiles I gave and how harmless Charmy seemed, they couldn’t see past our robes. After another local ran away from us in fear, I finally snapped. That was the tenth person to run away from us after we asked about the people the fish had eaten. We needed to know who was eaten so we could figure out what was attracting the fish to them! I ripped off my robe and tossed it to Charmy, asking her to hold it for me while I do a little undercover work.

My undercover work is going pretty well. After ditching the robe, people only saw a young lady in a bathing suit. After letting a couple of local boys flirt with me, I finally got around to the topic of the man-eating fish. They spilled easily enough, telling me about how this crazy fish has been eating noble and royal man and women in one bite. I found it kind of odd that no locals have been eaten by this fish. Maybe they were just smart enough to swim away. After getting the information we needed, I headed back to where I left Charmy, just in time to see her scare away a group of vacationers. Cowards.

****

The beach that the fish has been sighted at was still empty when we got there. I honestly didn’t expect anyone to show up at all with how many people the fish has already eaten. Charmy explained that our entire plan was to basically swim around in the water and hope that the fish decides we look tasty. Wasting no time at all, Charmy threw off her magic knight robe and ran into the water. ‘Good thing Grimoires are waterproof.’ I thought as I waded into the surf. I felt a little more self-conscious without my robe like the confidence I had gained on our walk here had been discarded along with it. Charmy was already swimming and splashing happily out in the ocean. How was she so brave when she knew there was a man-eating fish out here? I wish I was as brave as her, but here I am, scared to go in. I took a deep breath and focused on the sun shining on my shoulders and face. I am in my element, my magic would be unstoppable here. I took another deep breath to steel my nerves, and then rushed forward into the ocean.

I had challenged Charmy to a splash contest and was losing terribly when I first heard chatter coming from the beach. I dove under the water, avoiding a big splash from Charmy and swiveled to see what was going on on the beach. A small group of people were wading into the ocean. Among them was a girl in a red bathing suit, holding hands with a younger girl in a blue and white striped bathing suit. They were getting too deep for it to be safe, so I decided to stop them.

“On behalf of the magic Knights, Please exit the water! We are conducting an investigation that could be dangerous to civilians!” I waved my arm to get their attention, and it looked like the heeded my warning, before I heard shouts claiming that we weren’t really magic knights and that we just wanted to hog the beach. I was about to blow my fuse at the stupid vacationers when a shadow swam underneath me. I called out to Charmy to be on high alert, but before I could finish the sentence, the fish surfaced.

I don’t think the fish was really a fish, but that’s not important right now. The ’fish’ was arcing through the air, positioning itself to gobble up the girl in the red bathing suit and the little girl the white and blue bathing suit. Acting on instinct, Charmy and I took action. She used her Cotton magic to push the group of civilians back towards the shore while I cast Solar Flair at the beast. Now when a giant fish explodes, most people would expect blood and guts, not a giant splash of water. 

“Charmy, That thing was a spell! We are under attack from a mage!” I felt mana swell below us before a school of fish jumped out of the water and started attacking us. I cast Solar Seeking Eyes to combat the fish while I tried to swim towards Charmy, but before I could reach her, another giant fish jumped through the air and ate her whole.

“CHARMY!” My teammate was gone. Oh boy. The civilians on the beach made a move to get back into the water, so I sent a slash of light towards them, telling them to evacuate the beach. Sadly, while I was distracted a second fish jumped out of the ocean for me. The last thing I saw was the retreating figures of the civilians. And then it was dark.

**Author's Note:**

> This concludes my update of questionable quality. Congratulations for making it through that train wreck. Go eat a cookie, you deserve it.


End file.
